Court 'violated all the rules' in acquitting Tommy

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A team examining October's controversial verdict issued by the Supreme Court exonerating Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra from all charges has concluded that the Court violated the Criminal Code Procedures as well as its own rules and procedures.

In a statement made available to The Jakarta Post, the team said on Wednesday that "the Criminal Code Procedures stipulate that an application for a review must be made by the defendant himself or his heirs and successors, and not his lawyers as in Tommy's case.

"The verdict has also failed to deal with the conflict between legal certainty and the sense of justice, so that the application for a review should have been rejected."

It was understood that the public saw the original sentence meted out by the Court as justice being done. The review, however, had offended against the public's sense of justice.

The statement was issued after the team met with Chief Justice Bagir Manan at the later's office.

It said that "due to these violations, the Supreme Court must impose stern sanctions by dismissing the three review panel justices as they have proven themselves incapable of carrying out their duties."

The team was referring to deputy chief justice M. Taufiq and justices Soeharto and German Hoediarto.

The team was set up by legal experts and a number of NGOs following the issuance of the controversial verdict.

Tommy, a flamboyant businessman and playboy who is also the son of former President Soeharto, was captured last week after a year-long flight from justice.

He was originally found guilty of involvement in the Goro- Bulog land scam and was sentenced in September 1999 to 18-months imprisonment by the Supreme Court. The sentence was imposed after the Supreme Court reversed Tommy's acquittal by the South Jakarta District Court.

In November 1999, Tommy went on the run only to be finally arrested last Wednesday. While he was still at large, the Supreme Court review panel overturned the Supreme Court's earlier verdict on Oct. 1, 2001.

Responding to the team, Bagir said that the Supreme Court could not quash the review panel's verdict unless they evidence on corruption involving the review panel justices was uncovered.

"We have set up a clarification team to probe the accusations that the judges took bribes.

"But as this clarification team is not a legal tribunal and does not make findings of fact, any conclusions it reaches will not affect the review panel's recent verdict," Bagir said.

He was quick to add that "it will be difficult to ascertain whether the justices were bribed or not, unless Tommy, or his lawyers, admit it."

When asked whether the court could impose interim sanctions on the justices pending the outcome of the clarification team's investigation, Bagir said: "I can't impose any sanctions as they would only interfere with the current process."

He added that there were no grounds for imposing sanctions as the accusations about the justices represented mere assumptions by the public.

"Pak Taufiq himself has expressed his readiness to be questioned by the police over the allegations," he said.

The NGOs making up the team include Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), the Legal Aid Institute (LBH), and Judicial Watch.

The jurists on the team include Tomi Bustomi, a former judge, Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, a legal expert from the University of Indonesia, Achmad Ali, a former advisor to the late chief justice Baharuddin Lopa, Adi Andojo, a former justice, Bambang Widjojanto, the outgoing director of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBHI), Teten Masduki, chairman of ICW and Irianto Subiakto of the LBH.

Tommy, now under police investigation, is facing three charges, including involvement in the murder of Supreme Court Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, the judge who meted out his 18-month jail term, illegal possession of weapons and masterminding a spate of bomb attacks.

The clarification team is led by Bagir himself and the team members are Justice Mariana Sutadi, former chief justice Purwoto Gandasubrata, and former justices Bustanul Arifin and Djoko Sugianto.

The team is scheduled to hold a meeting on Thursday to discuss the case.